Above the Water
by jaylene
Summary: Odin decides to punish Thor by sending him to a place outside of the Nine Realms. If nothing else, Konoha will be quite the learning experience for him.


so this is just a snippet but I don't know if I'll ever finish it so…here.

* * *

Above the Water

* * *

"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of THOR!"

Odin watches with grim sadness as Mjolnir sails through the portal.

"Where did you send him?" Loki asks, uncharacteristically subdued.

"To a Realm where he will come to appreciate his former gifts."

* * *

Sakura isn't having the best day.

She understands her shishou's desire to get her out of the hospital, but did she really have to send her on a C-ranked mission? A mission to the Land of Hot Water no less; one to bring Tsunade-shishou the finest sake she can find. Hot Water is, after all, the best place to buy alcohol.

(Sakura has learned all sorts of inane details about the marvels of alcohol under Tsunade's tutelage.)

It's a trivial mission; more a vacation really.

Sakura would be glad of it except for Tsunade's pitying eyes as she handed her the document. She doesn't need pity; she needs to pound something.

She sighs, stoking the fire with a stick and staring deep into the hot embers. She isn't cut out for this cycle; this going and going until she burns out and is sent out to "rehabilitate" herself.

It is miserable, but she doesn't know how to escape the monotony of it.

Her friends seem happy, having found a purpose after the war. Ino is running the Torture and Interrogation unit, making Ibiki and her deceased father proud. Naruto is training up as Hokage. Sasuke is on his world-traveling mission. Sai is rehabilitating the other Root agents. Everyone else is stepping up their roles within their clans.

And Sakura?

Sakura is in charge of the hospital and dispensing medical knowledge to the other nations. She finds herself restless though.

Miracle healing is but one of her powers.

Sakura's eyes narrow as she leans back, watching lazily as her fish cook over the fire.

She finds herself rudderless, without a purpose. She _needs_ to do something. Sakura has fought with blood and grit and sweat and tears to get where she is today. She's so used to being in motion and now she fears that she is stagnant.

That's the last thing she wants; to stay motionless, to forget how far she's come, to be _weak_ again.

Sakura shakes her head, pulling the fish out of the fire and setting them aside to cool.

She rolls into a defensive stance as the sky cracks open above her, light blinding her fully as sound rends the air. Her ears ringing, Sakura blinks away tears of pain as she stares at the strange circular design on the ground. It is etched deeply, unknown runes forever marking the ground there.

She is quickly distracted by the man who stumbles about, yelling out words in a language foreign and harsh to her ears.

The first thing she notices about him is how tall he is. This man is on par with the likes of Hoshigaki Kisame and Killer Bee in terms of his height. He stands tall above Sakura and most everyone she knows.

The second thing she notes is his build. The man has huge, hulking muscles, the sort that link him to battle. He certainly isn't an assassin; he is too broad and heavyset. He doesn't have the lithe, scrappy build of an assassin. He seems more like…a warrior, perhaps. Maybe even a samurai.

The armor he wears certainly makes her think he is of the warrior class, not of the shinobi. It's all chainmail and bulk and loud in a way that a shinobi cannot risk.

Finally, she takes in his long blond hair and startling blue eyes. It is now that she approaches him, wary.

"Where do you come from?" Sakura asks.

He replies in some gibberish, repeating a single word over and over.

"I don't understand," she says.

His brows draw together tightly and he shakes himself before saying, "I am Thor, heir apparent of Asgard. Where is Mjolnir?"

Honestly, Sakura isn't sure if he's still speaking gibberish or not.

The man scowls, stepping forward threateningly. Sakura prepares to defend herself only to relax as his eyes roll back in his head as he falls forward in a dead faint.

Sakura catches him easily, guiding him to the ground with a thoughtful look. He is even heavier than he looks; too heavy to be normal. It's almost as if he is made of something denser.

Sakura's hands light with chakra and she draws them over the unconscious man's chest.

Her eyes fly open with a gasp.

The man has no chakra. None whatsoever.

Even the weakest of civilians has chakra. Chakra is what sustains life. It acts as a parallel force to the rest of the body; a mysterious energy that keeps people alive. Damage to the chakra coils has immense traumatic impact on the person's body. Those with enough can use it in amazing ways, but even those who can't still need it to survive.

Sakura cannot even begin to comprehend how this man is still alive. She presses a hand to his pulse in disbelief, awed.

This guy, as strange as he is, as alien as he is, is a medical anomaly.

She wants to study him further.

As Sakura examines him, she notices other oddities about him. Despite the absence of chakra, his entire body is enhanced. His bones are stronger, his skin thicker, and his internal system…

Well, it's like nothing she's seen before.

His organs are different and he doesn't exactly have lungs. Sakura furrows her brows as she finds even more inconsistencies that just do not match up with her understanding of the human body. This man, whoever he is, isn't human.

Her thoughts are disrupted by a groan.

The man is waking up.

Sakura decides to let him; she needs answers.

* * *

Thor's consciousness returns in fragments as he blinks through a sea of dizziness. He groans, feeling his stomach roil in protest.

His stark blue eyes fly open as his stomach refuses to be ignored. Thor rolls onto his side, heaving.

It takes him awhile to realize that there are hands supporting him and holding him up. A voice threads between his ears, too close and too far away at once. A strange green light emanates from Thor's chest and the nausea begins to recede.

He turns to face his helper.

She is a woman, young in years but old in the terms that matter. He can see she is a fighter, a warrior of this Realm. Her pink hair is chopped short and her eyes blaze with an inner fire. Her frame is lean and rangy, packed with firm muscles. He thinks he saw her upon landing here but he isn't sure. Everything was a blur of overwhelming senses.

"What Realm is this?" Thor asks, swiping at his mouth in an attempt to clear it of the bitter taste.

"Realm?" she asks, frown troubled. "Do you mean the country?" We're currently in Water, on the border of Fire."

Thor furrows his brow, scowl heavy. "I am Thor, crown prince of Asgard. I demand straightforward answers!"

Sakura snorts, unimpressed. Royalty does not factor much into a shinobi's life, aside from those who serve as desk ninja or Kage. She hasn't really had to pander to royalty and she isn't about to start. "Asgard you say? I've never heard of it."

Thor's eyes narrow. "You must be from a backwater planet then. Have you never made inter-Realm contact before?"

Sakura looks at him, wondering if he was insane, speaking of planets and such. Still, his alien structure would support such a wild, outlandish claim. "Tell me of this Asgard," Sakura says.

"Why?" he demands suspiciously.

"We've nothing better to do," Sakura says.

It's true. It is past midnight and the sky remains dark and overcast.

Sakura stokes the fire and hides a grin at the gurgle that comes from Thor's stomach. While his might be bigger and have multiple compartments, it seems to function the same way.

"Would you care for some fish?" Sakura asks, glancing over at her food.

"You offer me a meal from your campfire?" Thor asks, looking astonished and somehow flattered.

Sakura wonders if it means something more in his culture. "Um, yes?" Sakura says.

Thor nods slowly, reverently, as he takes the food from her. "My thanks," he says.

They settle into a somewhat companionable silence as they devour the food greedily. Sakura wishes that she'd caught more.

"Asgard is the greatest of the Nine Realms," Thor says, licking his fingers. "My father, Odin, united the Asgardians together and now serves as sworn protector of all Nine Realms." His smile blossoms wide across his face, wild and carefree. "I am next in line to be king."

"And some of these Realms do not know of your claim?" Sakura asks with a puzzled look. "How can you claim to be a guardian of a Realm that does not know you even exist?"

Thor opens his mouth, pauses, and scowls as he closes his mouth once more.

Sakura glances askance at him, waiting patiently, if a bit smugly, for a response.

"The Realms do not need to know of us for us to protect them," Thor says finally. "They are under our protection regardless."

Sakura can tell he isn't pleased with his own answer so she changes the subject. "What exactly does the job 'future king' curtail?"

Thor shrugs his heavy shoulders. "Ensure the safety of the Nine Realms and maintain the balance of Yggdrasil."

Sakura mouths the word, confused. Then again, most of his words don't make much sense. "You're a warrior then?"

"Aye. I fight alongside my brethren." His smile falls. "Well, they did."

"How exactly are you speaking my language?" Sakura asks. "When you first arrived, you spoke in tongues. Well, some of the words you say still are."

"Ah, you picked up on that? It is called All-Speak; a language achievable only through magic."

"Magic," Sakura mutters, shaking her head. "I suppose that's something similar to chakra."

"Chakra?" he asks, cocking his head to the side.

"Something similar to life energy," Sakura says. "You can find it in everything that is alive: the plants, the animals, the people. It's an energy that can be manipulated by some people to unimaginable extremes."

"And you are one such person," Thor says.

Sakura nods, watching him steadily. "Why are you here?"

Thor averts his gaze. He stands, shaky and swaying on his feet, and moves over to the mark left on the ground by his arrival.

Sakura follows, frowning slightly as he kneels heavily on the ground to trace the runes.

"Heimdall," he says quietly, angrily.

"What is a Heimdall?" Sakura asks.

"Not a what," Thor says, lips twitching. "Who. He is the gatekeeper of Asgard and has the ability to send and take people from different Realms."

"He brought you here," Sakura says, folding her arms. She scowls at the defeated look on his face. "He brought you here _unwillingly_."

Thor glances up at her. "Aye. You're quite sharp."

Sakura releases a silent sigh and moves to sit beside him at the edge of the runes. She traces a gentle hand over the black marks. "I think you need to tell me the full story."

* * *

Sakura returns to Konoha with a passenger in tow.

Thor makes a surprisingly good companion, for all his arrogance and condescension. He enjoys talking and Sakura has found her journey home full of tales about his misadventures with his comrades and brother. While she doesn't care for his assumed superiority, Sakura revels in proving him wrong. She can't wait to show him her skills on the training fields.

She wonders what his expression will look like when she destroys the earth beneath him.

Still, none of his "superior Asgardian ways" seem to have manifested here in the shinobi nations. He doesn't have his weapon of choice or strength greater than a civilian. He seems almost…average.

Sakura remembers the medical exam and reminds herself he is decidedly not average. He is alien in every sense of the word.

As much as she's enjoyed this past few days, she'll be glad to hand Thor's case over to Tsunade-shishou.

"Who is this?" Kotetsu asks, hopping down from a watchtower. "Sakura-san have you gotten yourself into trouble?"

Thor stiffens at the perceived threat and steps forward between the man and Sakura.

Sakura barely stifles a snort. The wry smile that stretches Kotetsu's lips and the shaking of Izumo's head tell her that they share her sentiment.

Haruno Sakura needs no protector.

Sakura reaches up to place a hand on Thor's shoulder, calling him off.

He glances askance at her, hesitates, and falls back.

"I have a delivery for Tsunade-shishou," Sakura says evenly. "Make that two deliveries."


End file.
